Huntsman company's Tehran reach

POLITICO

Published 8:51 am, Sunday, June 19, 2011

Glenn Thrush and Kasie take a deeper dive on the "political risk" that Huntsman Corp., the candidate's family business, provides Jon Huntsman's newbie campaign, and digs into dealings the firm had with an Iran subsidiary.

When a non-partisan group questioned how the newly-minted ambassador to China could help usher in stronger sanctions against Iran when his family company was doing business there, the Iran operations were ultimately shuttered.

But Huntsman's brother Peter, the firm's CEO, is quoted as firmly against such sanctions, a position that may not gel with some voters:

On Jan. 27, 2010, the company sent out a press release announcing the suspension of its Iran subsidiary, citing "international concerns over the policies of the current regime" but defending its operations as legal and ethical.

But
Peter Huntsman
is less sanguine about the outcome and strongly opposes the policy of pressuring the Islamic regime through sanctions.

"I don't think that [trade] sanctions are a good diplomatic policy. . By not doing trade with Iran, are we hurting people that are reaching out for western business?" he said earlier this month, according to the industry newsletter
ICIS News
.